SUFFOLK WINTER CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE

2008-2009

 

26th October 2008 - Nowton Park, Bury St. Edmunds

REPORT 

For the first fixture of the new season, the weather dealt a cruel blow. The rain persisted until we were preparing to come home at the end of the meeting. Parts of the course were well drained but in others there was mud galore. All the time there was the endless drip of water from the trees. Nowton Park is a beautiful setting for Cross Country and the autumnal colours were a delight to the eye.

In the Junior race we were well represented by Lee, Olly, Kieron, Emma and Matthew. Ably assisted as buddies by Kim and Paul D. At the time of writing the results have not been published but to the Chairman's watchful eye he can report that Lee was magnificent. Lee ran his race strongly and finished in a flurry on the downhill final 200 metres. With half a mile to go, Olly was feeling the "burn" but stuck to his task well and ran through the pain to blast his way to the finishing line. Kieron and Emma, once again brilliantly buddied by Kim, had their usual brother and sister scrap and both looked to have kept something in reserve for the last few metres. Battling bravely towards the back of the field, came Matthew, well supported by Paul D. Matthew is not built for distance running but he shows a fantastic grit and determination and as can be seen in the following pictures he still enjoys himself. One lap was enough for our Juniors and we can be proud of them all.

Next it was the turn of the Seniors who had the daunting task of completing 2 laps of the wet and muddy course. As always Bill and Jean ran well for their respective clubs. Leading our three Panthers home was Stephen who ran a really fine race. Stephen had so much in reserve at the finish that it leads one to think that if he just had a little more self belief, he might find himself a lot higher in the finishing order. Well done Stephen and well done Kim who having completed the Junior course with Emma took off again to run Stephen's second lap with him. The step up to Senior race was a major thing for Michael but he dug in and stuck to his task superbly. Buddied on his second lap by Paul, Michael battled on with a pretty good pace. The experience, though tough, will help Michael's endurance for the one lap races in the summer to come. A race of this type was a giant leap of faith for Max. At times he could be heard telling Mark his buddy, that "It hurts". There are some of us for whom Cross Country always hurt and yet Max would not lie down. On and on he went until with a look of sheer delight he was met by Bill who encouraged him down the slope and the relief of finishing, a very happy man. To those watching, Max's achievement was far in excess of many of those who had finished before him and were tucking in to their post race refreshments whilst Max was still battling his way around the course.

To all those Panthers who ran Mike says Well done and thank you for being a credit to your club but more so to yourselves. We'll do it all again next week at Fritton Lake.

The following pictures were taken by Andrew Pattle who knows the Panther vest well but missed a couple of our athletes who had worn items over the vest because of the wet condition. No blame on Andrew but, guys, please wear your vest on top.

Click on a picture to enlarge

No prizes for spotting the wet old man clapping Matthew home.

Bury Results

2nd November 2008 - Fritton Lake

REPORT 

After a week of heavy rain it was a pleasant surprise to find most of this delightful course fairly dry underfoot. Once again our junior boys were well to the fore in their one lap race of about two miles. At the half way mark our runners were in three groups. Lee and Olly were well up with the pack and then came Emma and Kieron supported well by Kim. A little further back came Matthew looking more and more like a Cross Country runner with every race. With a picturesque finish  beside the beautiful house, it was a very excited crowd that saw Olly explode from the trees in his sprint for the finish, passing several athletes in the final few yards. Shortly after came Lee a little subdued as Olly had turned the tables on him from Bury. Many of us are really looking forward to the next clash of these Titans. Kieron and Emma also finished strongly with Kim urging them all the way. Despite losing touch with the main field, Matthew, well buddied by Paul, continued to battle and he too managed to lift his pace to make an impressive finish. With two men in the senior race it was up to Stephen to bring home the first Panther vest. This he did with an amazing finish that left many senior athletes in his wake. What Stephen could achieve with a little more experience of running even pace is very encouraging. Michael will always find Cross Country running hard but he is very sensibly using it to develop his strength for the coming track season. His courage and strength is without question and you always know that Michael will finish and that there is no need to send out a search party. All the runners made the onlookers proud of Orwell Panthers and special mention of Team Manager Celia for getting them all up for the race. It was good to see Jean running so strongly for Woodbridge, too.

Fritton Results

Current individual positions

(Minimum 2 races)

Junior Team Positions

16th November 2008

Bungay (Ditchingham)

Bill reports that the course was much fairer to the Junior runners this year and Olly took advantage with an outstanding run in 13 minutes 26 seconds. Lee battled well just seven places behind and finished in 14 minutes 03 seconds. Currently, Olly lies in 1st place in the Under 17 men's standings with Lee in 2nd and Kieron 3rd.  Matthew works very hard and is now well placed in 7th in the Under 15 Boys  Running for the first time this season in the Under 15 Boys group, was Daniel A who made a really good effort on his comeback.

Emma still carries the flag for Panther Girls and again ran strongly and is now in 10th place after three races.

In the longer Senior race, Michael battled very well just failing to break the hour. After three races Michael lies in 6th place overall in the Under 20 Men's series.

In the Team Competitions we can only register scorers in the Junior events and here the Panther Boys lie in 4th place after three races and the Panther Girls lie in 8th place overall.

The next race on 7th December is at a new venue at Sutton Heath which will be organised by Woodbridge Shufflers.

Panther Results from Bungay

Current individual positions

(Minimum 3 races)

Junior Team Positions

UNDER 20 MALE RUNNERS

6th December 2008

Woodbridge (Sutton)

Panther Results from Woodbridge

18th January 2009

Framlingham

Panther Results from Framlingham

Current individual positions

(Minimum 4 races)